The present invention relates generally to springs for vehicles and, more particularly, to a fastener-less spring assembly for a vehicle.
It is known to provide an air spring assembly for a vehicle between a chassis frame or body (on a unibody vehicle) and axle thereof. Typically, the air spring assembly includes an inflatable air spring that has a lower end fastened to the axle and an upper end fastened to the frame of the vehicle. Generally, fasteners such as bolts, clips, split pins, rivets or nuts are used to fasten the air spring assembly to the axle and frame.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide an air spring assembly for a vehicle that is easy to install. It is also desirable to provide an air spring assembly for a vehicle that eliminates the need for separate fasteners.
It is, therefore, a preferred aspect of the present invention to provide a fastener-less spring assembly for a vehicle that eliminates the need for separate fasteners to be secured to a vehicle and that requires no special tooling or equipment for attachment to a vehicle.
To achieve the foregoing, the present invention is a fastener-less spring assembly for a vehicle. The fastener-less spring assembly includes an axle spring seat adapted to be secured to an axle of a vehicle. The fastener-less spring assembly also includes a frame spring seat adapted to be secured to a frame of the vehicle. The fastener-less spring assembly further includes a spring having a base for the axle spring seat and a cap for attachment to the frame spring seat. The frame spring seat has at least one slot extending therethrough and the cap has at least one projection extending through the slot and being rotated relative to the frame spring seat to prevent the projection from exiting the slot to attach the mounting cap to the frame spring seat.
Preferred advantages of the present invention include: The fastener-less spring assembly eliminates the need for separate parts and requires minimal labor time and cost to assemble to the vehicle; The fastener-less spring assembly requires no special tooling or equipment such as torque equipment to attach the spring assembly to the vehicle or for torquing or torque monitoring; The fastener-less spring assembly has parts that are non-handed such that one part is used on both sides of the vehicle; The fastener-less spring assembly has a self-locking feature that prevents back out once it is in place; The fastener-less spring assembly does not require replacement of clips, split pins, or nuts and bolts when the assembly is taken apart and reassembled; The fastener-less spring assembly removes the inherent variation of a bolted assembly and requires less labor to assemble than the bolted assembly; and The fastener-less spring assembly eliminates the cost of separate fasteners, reduces part number count, has easy removal and replacement in service and provides a quality assembly.
Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be readily appreciated, as the same becomes better understood, after reading the subsequent description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.